Harlow made breakfast for her and the guys, making scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast. When finished, she handed Antonio and Ethan a plate, before sitting down herself. They talked and joked around while eating, until they heard the door open.

"Anyone home?" Their mother called out as she walked in the house.

"I better go help her," Ethan said standing and walked over to his mother, helping her bring in her luggage.

"Whose car is that parked outside?" she asked.

"That would be Antonio's, my boss."

Her eyes widened. "Boss? You've got a job?" she asked surprised.

"Yes, a couple weeks ago. It's a great job and I like it a lot."

Her face lit up like a flashlight. "Congratulations, it's about time you got a job," she smiled. "Where's your sister?"

"In the kitchen eating breakfast."

His parents walked inside the dining room and noticed Antonio sitting there, eating breakfast with Harlow, then noticed the flowers sitting on top of the table. Antonio wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood, introducing himself and shaking both their hands. "It's nice to meet you both," he said, grinning a warm welcoming smile.

They both smiled while shaking Antonio's hand, introducing themselves as Charlotte and James. Charlotte walked over to the table and looked at the flowers. "Wow, these are beautiful, are they for me?" she asked, looking over at Harlow.

"No," she giggled nervously. "Antonio brought those over for me," she said looking at Antonio, unsure on how to explain the reasoning why.

"Well that was nice of him," she says, smiling while smelling them.

"You know, he originally got those flowers for me, but then I talked him into giving them to Harlow," Ethan said with a devilish grin as he looked at Harlow.

"Shut up Ethan," Harlow scolded. She looked at her mom and smiled. "Antonio gave these to me before taking me out last night."

James had Ethan help him carry their bags up to their bedroom while Antonio and Harlow talked with Charlotte. James then began to ask Ethan about Antonio and what he did for a living. He was also curious to know how Ethan got a job with him and was more curious to hear how it came about with Antonio taking Harlow out. Ethan explained who he was, what he did for a living, then explained after he met Harlow, he decided to take her out.

James was surprised to hear about Antonio, how young he was and how well established he was at such a young age and was liking him already, then became curious to know more about him. He walked back downstairs and began talking with Antonio.

Ethan figured he better let his dad talk with Antonio and walked over to where Harlow and his mom were.

Charlotte started explaining to Harlow and Ethan, they were wanting to have a garage sale within the next week or so, hoping to help raise money for the homeless and asked for their help on getting everything ready.

"We can help, I have plenty of stuff I need to get rid of." Harlow said looking over her mom's shoulder, curious as to what her dad was talking to Antonio about.

Charlotte looked at Harlow and noticed how she seemed to be in a different place, almost as if she was daydreaming. "You're in love, aren't you?" she asked, turning Harlow's chin towards her.

"Me? No, why?"

"She's lying to you, she's in love," Ethan chuckled, as he leaned over Harlow's shoulder.

"Shut up, Ethan," she whispered, making him laugh.

Charlotte smiled. "I can see it written all over you."

"I barely know him," she said, as her eyes shifted over to Antonio.

"You could have fooled me," her mother said, smirking. "Why don't you have him stay for dinner and find out what his favorite meal is, I'll make it tonight."

Harlow walked over to her dad and Antonio, interrupting them. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt the two of you, but my mother was wondering if you would like to stay for dinner," she asked shyly as she looked at Antonio.

"Sure... I would like that."

"She was curious as to what your favorite meal was."

He smiled. "Lasagna."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll let her know."

"Thank you." He winked at her and watched her walk back into the kitchen, then looked back at James.

Harlow let her mom know he would stay for dinner and that his favorite meal was lasagna. Charlotte knew she didn't have the ingredients to make it and wrote down a list, handing it to Ethan, asking him to run to the store for her. "Sure, I'll have Antonio drive me."

Charlotte reached into her purse and handed Ethan money. "Now don't forget anything, you seem to forget things, even when you have a list in your hand," she insisted.

Ethan and Antonio talked while on their way to the store. "My dad sure seems to like you; he has never liked anyone Harlow has dated before."

"That's good to hear," he said, feeling relieved.

"She's always been into the bad boys and they all have broken her heart. I don't know what she ever saw in those idiots. Every one of them treated her like shit. As a matter of fact, one of the jerks she was seeing, I had gotten in his face about how he was treating her and ended up getting into a fight with the fucker."

"It's usually the thrill of being with a bad boy, they're fun to be around, different from everyone, they think they're sexy, etcetera... a lot of times, it's just to get under their parents' skin, to be rebellious knowing their the parents don't like them. I've seen and heard it all before." He turned his head, looking at Ethan with a smirk. "I'm sure your parents have disliked someone you've dated."

"Yeah, there was one. She was a snobby bitch, ugly on the inside, but damn she was smoking hot. All she ever wanted was the bald-headed sailor and was one nymphomaniac."

Antonio shook his head and laughed.

They got to the store and began walking around, making sure to grab everything on the list and double checking it before heading over to the checkout.

"What do your parents like to drink?" Antonio curiously asked.

Ethan chuckled. "Well... my dad likes to drink bourbon, hence how I started to like it, stealing it from his liquor cabinet when I was younger... okay, okay, maybe I still do," he smiled, after seeing Antonio raise an eyebrow. "As for my mom, she doesn't drink much. When she does like to drink, she usually likes rum."

While standing in line, a young man in front of them was trying to buy a package of condoms. As he dug through his pockets, he couldn't find his cash and began to sweat. He pulled his card out of his wallet and swiped his card in the machine. "Sorry, it's declined, do you happen to have another card?" the clerk quietly asked the kid, not wanting to embarrass him.

Ethan placed his hand over his mouth and began to laugh. "He just got cockblocked."

Antonio nudged Ethan's ribs. "Quiet Ethan." Antonio felt bad for the kid and pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet, handing it over to the clerk. "I'll pay for those."

The kid looked at Antonio embarrassed and red in the face. "Thank you."

"It's no problem, it's better to be safe, than to be sorry, right?"

"How can I repay you?" the kid asked, turning even redder in the face.

"Don't worry about it, go have yourself some fun."

The kid nervously smiled, taking his bag from the clerk and left in a hurry. Ethan stood there looking surprised Antonio helped the kid out. "Dang Antonio, he had to have been like sixteen years old."

"At least he's trying to be smart about it. I'd rather see that, then to have him make a huge mistake at such a young age." Antonio looked away from Ethan and looked at the clerk, asking for the highest end of bourbon that they had and a bottle of rum.

On the way back to Ethan's, Antonio talked about the meeting that was coming up in a few days, letting Ethan know he was going to be taking that day off from his other job and to help him out with the deal.

"Thanks, I'd hate to screw this one up," Ethan said, sounding relieved. He was nervous about it and didn't want Antonio to be upset with him if he didn't say the right things and would lose out on the deal.

"I have a deal for you, if the deal goes through, I'll give you a huge bonus," he says smiling as he looked over at Ethan. "But I want you to promise me one thing."

"Sure, anything," he says happily, excited to hear about a bonus offer.

"Promise me no more drunken charades like the one you did the other night. If you want to get drunk like that, I ask that you hang out with me, you'll keep yourself out of trouble," he said winking.

"I can promise you it won't happen again."

Antonio figured after seeing Ethan's mom enjoy the flowers, he gave Harlow, he felt like making her happy as well and wanted to put a smile on her face. He stopped at the store along the way and bought her a bouquet of flowers.

"Trying to score brownie points, are you?" Ethan laughed, as Antonio got back into the car, handing Ethan the flowers to hold onto.

"Nah... she liked Harlow's, so, I figured I would put a smile on her face also.

"Brownie points," Ethan mocked, chuckling.

Ethan and Antonio carried in the groceries, setting them on the counter. "Thank you," Charlotte said, as Ethan handed her money back.

"Antonio paid for it."

She turned and looked at Antonio, shaking her head. "You didn't have to do that, I gave Ethan the money to buy the supplies I needed for a reason and it wasn't for you to pay for it." She held the cash out to Antonio, insisting he take the money.

Antonio put his hands up in the air and grinned. "It's on me, I'm just happy someone is willing to make me some lasagna, it's been a while since I've had homemade lasagna," he smiled. "I'll be right back," he said after realizing Ethan never brought in the flowers. He quickly went back out to his car, grabbed the flowers and walked back over to Charlotte handing them to her. "Here, these are for you."

She blushed as she took the flowers from Antonio's hand and set them on the counter. "Wow, thank you." She opened the flowers and began smelling them. She looked at Harlow and smiled "He's definitely a keeper."

Harlow helped her mom make lasagna and set the table while the men sat in the other room talking. Antonio walked over to James, handing him a bottle. "Ethan mentioned you like bourbon."

"I do, thank you," he says, looking at the bottle he bought. "Wow, you even got the bottle I buy myself as a treat once a year," he said surprised and very pleased with his choice. He poured a couple glasses, handing one to Antonio. Ethan watched on as his dad and Antonio sat there drinking and talking, itching to have a glass of the high-end bourbon.

James looked at Ethan and grabbed a glass, pouring him a glass. He walked over to Ethan holding the glass and leaned forward. "Don't tell your mother, she would kill me if she knew I gave this to you," he said, as Ethan gladly took it out of his hand. Ethan looked at Antonio and grinned while taking a drink, this wasn't the first time his dad had given him a drink and got a kick out of hiding it from Harlow, every time.

Charlotte put the lasagna in the oven and began asking Harlow questions about how her date with Antonio went, wanting her to spill all the details. Harlow smiled, while pouring them each a glass of rum and adding fruit juice to it. "Well... he took me to that one place I've been wanting to go to, Romanticismo e Italiano."

"Oh wow, that place is expensive, how was it?"

"It was perfect... it was romantically dark with red lighting inside, beautiful music playing in the background, you're in your own private area, and the food was absolutely wonderful."

"Your dad has always talked about wanting to take me there."

"Make him take you," she insisted, smiling. "I'd go back in a heartbeat... but the best part of it all, was him," she said quietly.

Charlotte smiled. "See, I knew you were in love."

"It's not love, I don't even know him all that well yet."

"Keep telling yourself that, I know you better than that and I see it in you.... he's a very handsome man," she tells her, taking a drink of her cocktail.

Harlow sighed while smiling, thinking of her night with him. "He really is a dream and he was a perfect gentleman."

Charlotte continued asking about Antonio, wanting to know more about him. "What's with all the questions?" Harlow asked, becoming a little annoyed, thinking this was a conversation to have with a friend and not with your mother.

"Just curious. He's different than the other guys you went out with and for him to be Ethan's boss, it makes me even more curious."

Lasagna was finally done and Harlow let the guys know dinner was ready. After she walked away, Antonio and James followed behind her and Ethan quickly poured himself another glass of bourbon, slamming it before going to sit at the table.

During the meal, Antonio smiled the entire time, liking how they made him feel right at home and how they were being warm and kind to him. Just by listening to them talk amongst themselves, talking with them and watching their actions, he now knew what the police meant by telling him how well liked they are in the community. He could see himself, they're very likeable and loving people and could see where Harlow and Ethan got their good genes from.

Antonio tried helping with the dishes and clearing off the table when they were done eating, only to be pushed out of the room. "You're the guest in our home, go sit and relax," Charlotte insisted with a smile.

"I was only trying to help, it's the least I can do." Talking her into helping her out.

Later that evening, Antonio was beginning to yawn and knew he should be going since he had to wake up early and get ready for all his court cases.

He walked over to Charlotte and James, shaking their hands. "It was a pleasure meeting you both, but I shall get going, I have a busy day tomorrow."

He looked at Charlotte and smiled. "Thank you for dinner, it was absolutely wonderful."

"You're very welcome, I'm glad you stayed."

He finished saying his goodbyes and started walking out to his car. "Antonio?" He heard a beautiful voice say behind him and turned around. "I just wanted to come out here and to say thank you for everything today. Between helping with Ethan, paying for the food, booze and getting my mother flowers and for you being you. I really appreciate it," Harlow said, smiling ear to ear.

He stepped in front of her, brushed some hair away from her face and cupped the side of her face. "You're welcome, what you saw back there, was the real me and not just some act."

Her stomach began to dance just from his touch and the way he was speaking to her. It had her melting from the inside and feeling numb all over. He leaned closer to her, looked in her eyes and smiled before placing a kiss on her lips.

Her arms wrapped around him, cupping his neck and began kissing him harder. The harder she kissed him, had him feeling excited below and spun her around, pressing her up against his car, kissing her hungrily.

"I better get going, I'll be calling you soon," he said, parting away from her lips.

She smiled and took a deep breath, feeling as if she were in heaven and couldn't believe how she was already starting to have feelings for him. "Have a good night."

"Thanks, even though it's been a good day already. But what would make it even better, is if you came home with me. I really enjoyed waking up to you this morning," he said lovingly, as he caressed her cheek with his finger.

"I enjoyed it also. As much as I would love to go home with you, I better stay here and visit with my parents since they've been gone for three weeks."

He cupped either side of her face and pressed his lips against hers softly. "You better stay here," he smiled. "Goodnight, my love."

Hope that you enjoyed this chapter!🤞🤞🤞🤞

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